By Derek Mason, Vanderbilt Football Head Coach
RTI Journey is a new season-long series on VUCommodores.com written by Vanderbilt head football coach Derek Mason. Check back for a new entry every other week from Coach Mason.
Shaping Our Path To Success
A friend once told me, “If it doesn’t challenge you… it won’t change you.” In the SEC, every game in the second half of the season will challenge your team and change your trajectory for better or for worse. This is the time of year where you win or go home, and the latter is not an option for my team. Competing, performing and the consistency by which we execute our jobs will carry the day.
Our Week 9 opponent was the University of Arkansas Razorbacks. Both teams entered the East vs. West contest without a conference win, and the chance of a postseason opportunity hung in the balance. Four of our last five losses were to top-14 opponents, and heading into the bye week, a win over Arkansas was crucial. Each squad was fortunate to see the return of team leader, quarterback Ty Storey for Arkansas and our very own running back Ke’Shawn Vaughn. After Arkansas took the first possession of the game for a touchdown, an RTI focus and mindset kicked in and our players responded with a 21-point first half, which included two defensive takeaways and solid special teams play. In the second half, both squads tacked on field goals in the third quarter, but we once again erupted in the fourth with 21 points to seal the victory over the Hogs for our first conference win and road victory of 2018.
On the plane ride home, I saw a different type of confidence, swagger and humility present with our players. This team, in the midst of a three-game slide, had committed to one another each week of this journey. They cast aside the individual pettiness that early winning can produce and played their best team football to date. We are learning that the emotional highs and lows of the game is not where the work gets done. It resides in the attention to details at practice, the ability to challenge oneself and those around you to get it right, and the conviction that everything you invest in leads you closer to winning or losing. You must make a choice.
I love the resiliency of this squad and how we have grown. We haven’t stopped believing in ourselves: we trust the process and one another. While the bye week ensured some much-needed rest and healing for your ‘Dores, we know the specific work that must get done to be a contender in the month of November. Our actions must challenge the white noise and neutrality that our student-athletes face daily. We draw on the true-life example of Turner Cockrell, whose battle with cancer has been a strong source of inspiration for this squad. Turner challenges the narrative every day, competing fiercely against his opponent and performing big on a big stage during his treatments. He is a Vanderbilt Man who won’t be broken, and neither will we. Despite this family’s personal struggles, we are Vanderbilt Men together.
Derek Mason
Vanderbilt Football Head Coach
RELENTLESS | TOUGH | INTELLIGENT